I posted a couple of weeks ago about a coolant loss in my 1.9 TDI that seemed to come and go, without any sign of leaks anywhere.

Loss could vary from MAX to MIN in two weeks or in 24 hours. Lost nothing on long hot runs, but a few days of lack of use would see it sink quite quickly.

Sorted now. Thought you folks might like to know what the cause was.

Yesterday, with only a month to run on the three year warranty, I took the car to the dealer for its first MOT (Sparshatts Fareham, a very good MOT rate of £39, going rate elsewhere around £50) and asked them to investigate the leak.

Turned out it was the water pump leaking, so new pump and new cam belt were fitted free under warranty. Going rate was £288 for supply and fit of pump, belt and 'ancilliaries' (tensioners and the like I guess).

I guess I shouldn't be suprised. It was one of the forum's suggestions in response to my first posting, and a previous search on the forum's gold mine of information shows this to be a fairly common problem on the TDI. So thanks to all who took the time to reply.

Shame on Skoda that they can't source a pump that can last better than 3 years / 21k miles. It's a PITA to get to the pump, so here's hoping the new one lasts better than the original.

Turned out it was the water pump leaking, so new pump and new cam belt were fitted free under warranty. Going rate was £288 for supply and fit of pump, belt and 'ancilliaries' (tensioners and the like I guess).

That has to be classed in one word as 'RESULT'